In a rare television appearance on Sunrise in June 2023, Sara-Marie reflected upon what made her a fan favourite on her season of Big Brother.
"The bunny ears were so I didn't have to do my hair, the bum dance was to send a signal to my sisters that I was happy, and the pyjamas were because we weren't going anywhere, so I couldn't be bothered to be dressed. Very simple things...crazy."
In February 2018, Sara-Marie Fedele appeared as a guest on the Studio 10 panel and filled viewers in about what has been happening in her life for the past 17 years.
At the time, Sara-Marie revealed to the panel that she had started her own online business called Words on Rice, selling personalised grains of rice on that she writes names or messages on. Tragically, we noticed that the Instagram page for the brand has been deleted, so there's a chance she's no longer running it.
"It was really hard for me to grasp because I was loved for being confident but then I had to learn a new confidence," she revealed to Mamamia's Mia Freedman. "I had to stand on stage and talk in front of thousands and hundreds of people."
"I'm a confident person in my own circle but that doesn't mean I'm real good to get up on stage and tell everyone I love myself. I had to learn that as well which people don't realise.
"Sometimes I felt like a performing seal when I did a book tour. I'd have to stand on stage and slap my arse. I felt like I became a character."
Sara-Marie also appeared on the ABC's You Can't Ask That in July 2018 in an episode dedicated to former reality TV stars that saw her answer controversial questions about her time in the spotlight.
Despite success after the show, including a free boob job and an occasion where she earned $10,000 for a doughnut shop opening, the former reality star confessed she felt lonely in the period after Big Brother and the abuse she copped from members of the public.
"I was at a bar in Sydney and he said to me 'If you weren't on Big Brother you'd be nothing but a big fat f***ing heifer' and I said 'Excuse me?' and he said it again really loud," Sara said of a previous bad interaction.
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Though she's appeared on other reality shows since Big Brother, Sara-Marie told You Can't Ask That that she wouldn't turn down a chance to do I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! And, certainly, after former Bachelor contestant turned podcast host and I'm A Celebrity winner, Abbie Chatfield, proved, she has a fighting chance.
"The only reason for that one is I love eating competitions and so I'd want to be the hero that eats everything for the whole team," she explained.
Sara-Marie also welcomed a daughter in April 2015, but when she turned 40 underwent a hysterectomy after suffering bad pains.
"I knew at the time I wasn't having any more children,' Sara-Marie told Mamamia, adding that she'd had endometriosis and cysts throughout her life but the hysterectomy "went terribly wrong."
"They accidentally cut through my bladder so badly that I was in surgery for six hours having bladder surgery after my hysterectomy," she revealed.
"Then I was in hospital for a week with a catheter and then I was at home for a week with a bag praying for my life that this is the only two weeks I have to have one," she added.
Fortunately, Sara-Marie confirmed she's since recovered and "blessed to be back to normal." She's currently living in Perth and studying to be a teacher's aid for children with special needs.
"I haven't been in hibernation, I just didn't care to be known," she added." "I'm still the same person before, but a grown-up version. I did what I did and then I was happy to go."
This article first appeared on our sister site, WHO.
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